A BRUTAL sex beast was released from prison on licence the day before he raped and murdered a frail North Wales pensioner, a stunned jury learned yesterday.

The shock revelation came as Elfyn Bryn Jones was handed two life sentences after being found guilty of murdering defenceless widow Eila Williams at her Trefnant bungalow in April. The crippled 86-year-old was stripped, strangled, beaten and raped in her own bed - less than 24 hours after powerfully-built Jones, 23, a six-foot-two-tall fitness fanatic, was released from prison.

Jones then set fire to the house to destroy the evidence, and dumped her, naked and unconscious, to freeze in the street.

Earlier that night, Jones had assaulted a young woman who had rejected his advances at a Denbigh club.

Yesterday, at the end of a seven-day trial at Mold Crown Court, the judge, Mr Justice Gage, said no words could convey the full horror of what Jones had done.

And the MP for Clwyd West, Gareth Thomas, said he would be seeking a debate in the House of Commons about the case.

Mr Thomas, a former barrister, said: "I find it absolutely extraordinary he was let out early and then committed this most serious offence within 24 hours.

"I don't understand how on earth it can have been safe to release him into the community.

"This is the worst case of its kind that I have come across and I think it has the potential to become a major scandal."

Sentencing Jones, Mr Justice Gage told him: "In my opinion you are a dangerous man and there is every likelihood that if you are free you will commit further offences, the consequences of which may be especially dangerous to others."

Jones had pushed his way into Mrs Williams' home at 2am after disturbing her while planning to burgle the bungalow. She was dressed only in her nightie.

"You say that you were looking to steal from her. You then raped her and set fire to her house," the judge said.

"The jury have found that, in the course of that incident, you violently assaulted her, causing her horrendous facial and head injuries from which she died three days later."

The judge said that only Jones knew for what purpose he had carried her out of the house. "What is not in doubt is that you left her naked by the roadside where she remained until she was found some two hours later."

The judge said that the young woman he had attacked earlier was lucky to escape without serious physical injury but she must also have been terrified.

The jury of six men and six women took two and a half hours to unanimously convict him of murder, for which he received a life sentence.

In addition, Jones received a life sentence for the rape, three years for the arson, and 15 months for indecently assaulting the young woman he had thought of raping earlier in Denbigh.

The fact that Jones had been released early from prison on licence while serving a term for violent offences, only hours before he raped and murdered Mrs Williams, had been kept from the jury.

There was additional security in court when the jury returned and Jones, for the first time, was kept handcuffed in the dock.

When the jury forewoman returned the verdict, Jones shook his head slightly and mouthed obscenities.

Last night, a Home Office spokesman said it was too early for the Minister to comment on the facts of the case, but added that it was a matter of "huge regret" that Jones had committed his offences.

However, he insisted there was strict assessment of prisoners before they were released into the community.